Merry Christmas from our home to yours'!

 

This time of year is especially meaningful to me because we celebrate the birth of our savior! Do you ever think about what life would be like if we had no Savior? I do, and I can imagine that I would lead a very hopeless life. Yet there are millions of people out there who don't believe or haven't yet heard. This makes me very sad because there is so much more to life than living for ourselves, or even our families and friends. I am praying for more opportunities in the coming year to share my faith with others without being ashamed or afraid of what they might think. For me this comes through building deeper relationships with those I come in contact with--my neighbors, my kids' friends and their families, people I seem to "run into" frequently. I pray the same for you this Christmas season---and also that you will see Christ in a new light and be renewed in your spirit.

Merry Christmas my friend!

Loving Him

~Mel

Thoughts

"Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you." Ephesians 4:22-24 The Message

Lord, help me to strain every thought through the sieve of your word and not allow any deceit, bitterness, jealousy, or malice any place in my heart...that I may live in the freedom of my new self, all made possible because of you.

Loving Him,

~Mel

Getting Past Ourselves

I find it amazing that old truths can still be like fresh water for my soul at times I need them. I have just started a new personal Bible Study called "Becoming a Woman of Excellence" by Cynthia Heald. It's one that I bought years ago with the intention of doing...and never did. So glad I kept it around after all this time. I am really enjoying it. The first chapter has been covering the laying off of our old selves and running with our new selves. This morning I wanted to share a quote with you by Hannah Whitall Smith:

"The greatest burden we have to carry in life is self. The most difficult thing we have to manage is self. In laying off your burdens, therefore, the first one you must get rid of is yourself. You must hand yourself...into the care and keeping of your God...He made you and therefore He understands you and knows how to manage you and you must trust Him to do it well."

This really spoke to me. There are many things that hinder me from allowing me to be free from my self: pride...thinking I can do it all by myself and being overly confident in myself; thinking I am not valuable, that there is something wrong with me and that I can't do anything right; comparing myself to others, and being preoccupied with my performance, to mention a few. It is so critical that we accept ourselves as God made us in order to live in the freedom that He gave so much for us to enjoy. Here is another quote by Jerry Bridges:

"Self acceptance is basically trusting God for who I am, disabilities or physical flaws and all. We need to learn to think as George MacDonald did when he said, "I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking."

Lord, you made me and you know me better than I know myself. Help me to see myself the way you see me and love me; help me not to look to others for approval, but only strive to please you. I want to bring glory to you and please you above all else. In Your Son's precious name, Amen.

Loving Him today,

~Mel